Vitals
Player: Filip Hallander
Born: June 29, 2000 (25 years old)
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 203 pounds
Hometown: Sundsvall, Sweden
Shoots: Left
Draft: 58th overall (second round) in the 2018 NHL draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins
2025-26 Regular Season Statistics: 13 games played; one goal; three assists; four points
Contract Status: Entering second year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $850,000. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2027.
Story of the Season
Now back in the fold after two successful seasons with Timra IK, Hallander earned a spot on the opening night roster for the 2025-26 season under new head coach Dan Muse.
Visit betsport.cv for more information.
On Oct. 16, 2025, he scored his first NHL goal, a shorthanded game-winner over the Los Angeles Kings, some seven years after being drafted.
Hallander’s impressive October and 2025-26 season would come to a screeching halt after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg in November 2025. The diagnosis forced Hallander to miss several months, but he successfully progressed through his recovery enough to rejoin his teammates for practice by mid-February.
He was loaned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on a conditioning assignment on Feb. 18.
In three games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Hallander recorded a lone goal, but was recalled from his conditioning assignment Feb. 27.
He did not appear in a game for the remainder of the season.
Monthly Splits
Hallander notched an assist on opening night in the 4-3 win over the New York Rangers, and three games later, recorded his first-career NHL goal against the Kings.
He’d go pointless after that game, but saw his ice time dramatically increase from 10:58 in a 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Oct. 23 to 16:09 the next game against the Blue Jackets.
He recorded assists in back-to-back games against the St. Louis Blues and the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, respectively.
Regular season 5v5 advanced stats
Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 18 forwards on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes.
Corsi For%: 48.00 (16th)
Goals For%: 63.64 (1st)
xGF%: 49.13 (17th)
Scoring Chance %: 49.11 (13th)
High Danger Scoring Chance%: 57.33 (2nd)
5v5 on-ice shooting%: 9.21 (15th)
On-ice save%: 95.06 (1st)
Goals/60: 0
Assist/60: 1.18
Points/60: 1.18
Hallander barely qualifies for this data set, playing just over 152 minutes of ice time, the lowest of any eligible forward. The numbers are somewhat volatile and should be treated more as a snapshot of a few shifts than as a reliable assessment of his true performance this season.
The on-ice save percentage and goals for percentage almost certainly regress if Hallander logs more substantial ice time, and in that same breath, he probably generates a better Corsi for percentage, for example, than his 16th-ranked finish indicates.
Ultimately, Hallander showed encouraging flashes as a defensively responsible depth forward. The question is whether he can translate that effectiveness over 700-900 minutes, where the luck factors disappear, and his true impact becomes clearer.
Highlights
Filip Hallander scored his FIRST NHL GOAL! Here is how it sounded on the Penguins Radio Network, presented by S&T Bank. pic.twitter.com/cJYypEsSee
— Penguins Radio Network (@penguinslive) October 17, 2025
Filip Hallander scores!!!
— Pens Prospects (@pensprospects_) February 22, 2026
So good to see him back in action and already scoring! pic.twitter.com/fGrLBYv7h2
Questions to ponder
What is Hallander’s health status heading into next season? Will he have to earn another role within Pittsburgh’s bottom-six? What does Dan Muse make of a soon-to-be 26-year-old with just 16 NHL games under his belt?
Ideal 2026-27
Hallander is still under contract for the 2026-27 season, and players like Noel Acciari, Kevin Hayes, and Anthony Mantha are more likely than not to depart the organization, creating a few openings for the remaining forwards.
Still just 25, Hallander may yet have some untapped bottom-six potential, but his long-term outlook and health status remain in question. While injuries are unpredictable, durability remains just as much of a desired trait as goalscoring.
Bottom line
Some flashes of a decent NHL player were there early on, before injury derailed his season. If he can stay healthy, Hallander could offer cheap, effective bottom-six depth for a Penguins team that is once again primed for a bit of a facelift this offseason with cap space at Kyle Dubas’ disposal to go big-game hunting.
Final Grade: C
Some may view a “C” grade as too generous, but considering his solid October, I am going to grade him based on what he offered when he was in the lineup.